The Springfield City Council Tuesday will consider an ordinance that would extend for another 1 1/2 years the city’s enterprise zone, a tax incentive program that has generated millions of dollars in business investment.

Between 2007 and 2013, the Springfield Enterprise Zone saw in excess of $84 million worth of investment, and an estimated 400 new jobs as a result, said Mike Farmer, the city’s director of planning and economic development.

“It’s one of the few tools we have, and with big projects, it certainly makes a difference,” Farmer said, estimating that enterprise zone investment in the same time frame also helped to retain 800 local jobs.

The enterprise zone grants a sales tax exemption from city and state sales tax on building materials purchased within the state and a property tax abatement for projects that will increase the property’s assessed value by more than $25,000. The length of time and the percentage of the property taxes developers receive a break on vary depending on the investment amount and the number of jobs that will be created.

A number of areas are within Springfield’s enterprise zone, which has been expanded in the past to include new sections of the city as new development opportunities have arisen. Parcels qualify to be part of the zone if at least 20 percent of the households in the surrounding area are below the federal poverty level.

The temporary extension would see the incentive program run through July 1, 2016. Without council action, the zone is slated to expire at the end of this year.

The enterprise zone has been in place since 1983, Farmer said.

The Illinois Enterprise Zone Program was created to stimulate economic growth and neighborhood rejuvenation in communities statewide with local tax incentives.

For Springfield Caterpillar equipment dealership Altorfer Cat, a planned move from the city’s southeast side to a new site at Wabash Avenue and Interstate 72 hinges in part on the enterprise zone incentives, said sales manager Joe Keen, who is overseeing the project.

Keen estimated the company could save about $250,000 on building supplies, and said it’s “absolutely” part of the consideration process for deciding on that specific new site. The relocation project will likely get under way in the spring of 2015, Keen said.

“We had looked at a couple different properties, but one of the things that probably excited us the most was the enterprise zone possibility,” Keen said.

It is possible at some point for the city’s enterprise zone to be extended beyond 2016, but that will require a reapplication, public hearings and ultimately another approval on the part of the city council, Farmer said.

The state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity administers enterprise zones across the state, and would also need to approve an enterprise zone extension for Springfield beyond July 1, 2016.